Ministers reached a political agreement at the meeting held on 29 October on the new regulation on the tachograph used in road transport. One delegation, however, it is not supporting the text because it would have liked to see a wider exemption from the obligation to use the tachograph for small and medium-sized enterprises. The aim of the new draft legislation is to make fraud more difficult and to reduce the administrative burden by making full use of new technologies and introducing a number of new regulatory measures.

The Council reached a political agreement on a new regulation on the tachograph used in road transport. The political agreement confirms the general approach agreed by the Council in June this year, however, one delegation pointed out that it could not support the text of the draft regulation because it would have liked to see a wider exemption from the obligation to use the tachograph for small and medium-sized enterprises. The political agreement will be formalised in the form of a first-reading position in view of continuing negotiations with the European Parliament in order to seek an agreement.

The new draft legislation, which will replace the 1985 tachograph regulation, is aimed at making fraud more difficult and to reduce the administrative burden by making full use of new technologies and introducing a number of new regulatory measures. As regards the use of technology, the current manual recording of the location of the vehicle will be replaced by automated recording through satellite positioning. Also the draft legislation establishes that remote communication from the tachograph providing basic information on compliance will allow for early detection of possible manipulation or misuse. In addition, the tachograph may be equipped with an interface facilitating its integration into Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), subject to certain conditions.

The "smart tachograph", i.e. the application of the new satellite-linked technology, will become mandatory 40 months after the technical specifications for the new tachograph have been established, probably in 2017 or 2018. However, the draft regulation also contains safeguards for protection of personal data. Also, the regulatory changes include stricter requirements for workshops responsible for installing and calibrating tachographs.